Members of the National Football League Players Association begin what is to be a two-day strike, their first. The issues: pay, pensions, the right to arbitration and the right to have agents - 1970

Fifty-day baseball strike ends - 1981

The Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ends after Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding ratify a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubles pensions, increases security, ends inequality, and provides the highest wage increases in company and industry history to nearly 10,000 workers at the yard. The strike lasted 15 weeks - 1999

Monday, July 30, 2012

THERE IS AN URGENT NEED for our friends at His Nesting Place in Long Beach CA. For over 30 years they have helped save the lives of appx. 7,000 mother's and their babies in crisis. Please read the letter below and if you, or someone you know is able to assist, PLEASE call Dr. Al Howard directly within 48 hours at (562) 422-2137. One of the houses is used as a daycare center.

They DESPERATELY need your help so that these mother's and their babies won't be put out on the street. Thankyou so kindly.

Friday, July 27, 2012

United Mine Workers organizer Ginger Goodwin is shot by a hired private cop outside Cumberland, British Columbia. His murder sparked Canada's first General Strike. - 1918

"Goodwin went into hiding in the bush near Cumberland. With the help of townspeople, he evaded the authorities until July 27, 1918, when he was tracked down and murdered by the Mounties. Workers in Vancouver marked Goodwin's funeral on Aug. 2 with B.C.'s first general strike." from http://www.carpentersunionbc.com/Pages/gingergoodwin.html... "On 27 July Goodwin was shot to death with a single bullet by Constable Daniel Campbell of the Dominion Police, one of three members of a police search-party looking for men who were evading the Military Service Act. Campbell claimed self-defence, saying Goodwin had pointed a rifle at him." - from http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=41525

Thursday, July 26, 2012

We buy food and distribute it to workers
whose earned benefits were arbitrarily cut off by the state of
Georgia.

This spring, the Department of Labor suddenly cut off the
unemployment benefits earned by 64,000 Georgians who had no work during the
summer. They were employed by educational institutions or by companies that
contracted with educational institutions.

Lots of food for lots of
hunger.

Velmar Hightower, a food service technician for
Aramark at Spellman College, had depended on her unemployment benefits for 20
summers. She was shocked when the Georgia Department of Labor told her at the
end of May that she no longer qualified. Like tens of thousands of others, she'd
had no time to plan for a summer without income.

The workers are facing
eviction, repossession and hunger. There is no work for them in Georgia. There
is no pay.

Teamsters from Local 728 in Atlanta bought $3,000 worth of
food and set up a food distribution center. Several hundred union members whose
unemployment benefits were cut picked up groceries at the IBEW Hall in Savannah
on Saturday and Wednesday. Local 728 will also deliver bags of groceries to the
homes of 50 unemployed school bus drivers at Fort Stewart later this
week.

July 26 In Chicago, 30 workers are killed by federal troops, more than 100 wounded at the "Battle of the Viaduct" during the Great Railroad Strike - 1877

President Grover Cleveland appoints a United States Strike Committee to investigate the causes of the Pullman strike and the subsequent strike by the American Railway Union. Later that year the commission issues its report, absolving the strikers and blaming Pullman and the railroads for the conflict - 1894

Battle of Mucklow, W.Va. in coal strike. An estimated 100,000 shots were fired; 12 miners and four guards were killed - 1912

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) took effect today. It requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to qualified disabled employees and bans discrimination against such workers - 1992

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Phillip Defranco will host the twenty fifth anniversary of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, which will air on Sunday August 12th at 9PM. With an added twist, fans will be able to decide what Sharkzilla bites using Twitter or from SHARK WEEK’S Facebook page .

Much of the under water photography was captured by famed artist Michael Muller, visit his website for a wide gallery of his work by clicking here.

July 25Workers stage a general strike -- believed to be the nation’s first -- in St. Louis, in support of striking railroad workers. The successful strike was ended when some 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city - 1877[In Reviving the Strike: How Working People can Regain Power and Transform America, author Joe Burns draws on economics, history and current analysis in arguing that the labor movement must redevelop an effective strike based on the now outlawed traditional labor tactics of stopping production and workplace-based solidarity. Reviving the Strike offers a fundamentally different solution to the current labor crisis, showing how collective bargaining backed by a strike capable of inflicting economic harm upon an employer is the only way for workers to break free of the repressive system of labor control that has been imposed upon them by corporations and the government for the past seventy-five years. In the UCS bookstore now.]

New York garment workers win closed shop and firing of scabs after 7-month strike - 1890

The Teamsters and Service Employees unions break from the AFL-CIO during the federation's 50th convention to begin the Change to Win coalition, ultimately comprised of seven unions (4 by 2011: SEIU, Teamsters, UFCW and the UFW). They say they want more emphasis on organizing and less on electoral politics - 2005

"The strike, which lasted most of the summer, had little impact on the Fall River textile owners, but attention was brought to the child labor force in the United States (more than 250,000 children in mills, factories and mines), and the National Child Labor Committee was formed later in the year (1904)." - from http://georgesnyder.org/2007/08/31/fall-river-textile-workers-strike.aspx

DemocracyNow.org - Police in the California city of Anaheim are facing allegations of murder and brutality after fatally shooting two Latino men over the weekend and firing rubber bullets at crowds of protestors. On Saturday, Anaheim police shot and killed 24-year-old Manuel Diaz after he reportedly ran away from a group of officers who confronted him in the street. Diaz was unarmed. Hours after his death, a chaotic scene broke out when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a crowd of local residents protesting the shooting. Another Latino resident, Joel Acevedo, was shot dead by police the following day. Police say Acevedo was suspected in a car robbery, but the circumstances around his death remain unconfirmed. We discuss the situation in Anaheim with Gustavo Arellano, editor of the alternative newspaper, OC Weekly; and Teresa Smith, who has worked with families to call for police accountability in Anaheim since 2009, when officers shot and killed her son Cesar Cruz, a 35-year-old father of five. "Given the fact that this is the eighth officer-involved shooting within one year in the city of Anaheim ... the community's going to be very upset," Arellano says. "There's a lot of angry residents, and rightfully so."

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

July 24 The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters form the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA), later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA's agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Viet Nam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther - 1968

The U.S. minimum wage increases to $6.55 per hour today. The original minimum, set in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act, was 25 cents per hour - 2008

Monday, July 23, 2012

On July 17, 2012, after months of contract negotiations with the
Newspaper Guild of New York, Times management blew up talks. The
inexplicable move is aimed at forcing The Time's "last best" offer on
members. The draconian and rarely used tactic - called "impasse" -
would undo 17 months of negotiations. Times management proposed
dividing the Guild's bargaining unit in two. If impasse is declared,
the Guild would challenge the move at the National Labor Relations
Board. A strike authorization vote, members' only other recourse, is
another option. Guild members Henry Fountain, Andrew Martin, Clay
Risen, Dan Witter, Nadia Taha, Hilary Howard and Jim Dwyer explain
what's at risk.

A few weeks ago I discovered that my good brethren, Tony Byrd, had his normal every day life interrupted by the news that he had stage 4 lymphoma cancer. Certainly not good news to receive by any means, but we also know that at least this is one form of cancer that is treatable and beatable. I know this because my own brother had a battle with this very same beast a few years ago and vanquished him by the will of the Most High and sent him right back from where he came…

For those of you who do not know, Tony is one of Jamaica’s premier keyboard players (currently residing in Los Angeles), and even though his name did not appear on the liner notes it was he who played keyboards on Bob Marley and; the Wailers “No Woman No Cry” which was released on the 1974 “Natty Dread” album. He also did some outstanding keyboard work on our very own Jahmark and the Soulshakers 2004 “Life” album, which besides the title cut also featured songs such as “Let Your Love Flow”, “Who Tek Mi Kali”, and “Rainbow Paradise”.

Anyone who has had a friend or family member who is battling or has battled cancer knows that cancer treatment is not cheap. With all the various drugs involved, not to mention chemo, radiation, and rehabilitation therapy (as a result of the sudden onset of the disease Tony has lost all feeling in his legs and will have to go through a number of rehabilitation sessions in order to regain the muscle memory in his legs)… bottomline, we need your support!

For all those who know Tony Byrd, and for all those who know Jahmark & the Soulshakers, and even if you don’t know us and would like to support a good cause … please visit us at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach, CA. on Sunday, July 29th @ 4PM … there’ll be a humongous tip jar on stage waiting to be filled with your generous donations, and of course the band will be there as always to throw down some positive soulshakin’ vibrations’, come join the Reggae Lions and help us to defeat the Cancer Dragon … Peace In!!!

For those of my friends who do not reside in the Los Angeles area, money orders, cashier's checks, and paypal donations are accepted. My paypal account e-mail address is , and be assured that any donations which may come through my paypal account will be promptly delivered to Tony. Our mailing address is: Jahmark & the Soulshakers, PO Box 7111, Northridge, CA 91327-7111 ... Checks or money orders can be made out to "TONY BYRD" (correct spelling is "BYRD" not "Bird", my bad with the prior mis-spellings of his name) ... Love 'n Blessings!

After spending sixty-five years working at the Los Angeles Times Bob Bagwell is retiring.

“Please mark your calendar and come join us at Bob Bagwell’s Open House “Farewell party” on Tuesday, 7/31 from 2:00pm to 4:00 PM in the Salon/Reception lounge. He has been with the Los Angeles Times for 65 years and we want to celebrate with him at this event.”

July 23 Anarchist Alexander Berkman shoots and stabs but fails to kill steel magnate Henry Clay Frick in an effort to avenge the Homestead massacre 18 days earlier, in which nine strikers were killed. Berkman also tried to use what was, in effect, a suicide bomb, but it didn't detonate - 1892

Northern Michigan copper miners strike for union recognition, higher wages and eight-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town - 1913

Friday, July 20, 2012

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol and Fast and Furious Hollywood Stuntman, Speaker, Author and Businessman Sammy Maloof says, "Stunts are a rush, but so is encouraging kids and adults all over the country!"

New York City newsboys, many so poor that they were sleeping in the streets, begin a two-week strike. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink, who was blind in one eye. The boys had to pay publishers up front for the newspapers; they were successful in forcing the publishers to buy back unsold papers - 1899[Kids on Strike! tells the story of children who stood up for their rights against powerful company owners. Nearly two million children were in the U.S. workforce by the early 1900s. Their tiny fingers, strong eyesight, and boundless energy made them perfect employees. But after years and years of working long hours every day under inhumane conditions, they began to organize and make demands in order to protect themselves.]

New York City newsboys, many so poor that they were sleeping in the streets, begin a two-week strike. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink, who was blind in one eye. The boys had to pay publishers up front for the newspapers; they were successful in forcing the publishers to ...buy back unsold papers - 1899

""Ten cents in the dollar is as much to us as it is to Mr. Hearst the millionaire. Am I right? We can do more with ten cents than he can do with twenty five. Is it boys? I don't believe in hitting the drivers of the news wagons. I don't believe in dumping the carts same as was done last night. I'll you tell you the truth I was one of the boys that did it, but it ain't right. Just stick together and we'll win." - from http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/05/25/extra-extra-read-all-about-newsboys-strike-1899

An amendment to the 1939 Hatch Act, a federal law whose main provision prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, is amended to also cover state and local employees whose salaries include any federal funds - 1940

THE 1934 MINNEAPOLIS TRUCKERS STRIKE On "Bloody Friday", July 20,1934,at 3rd and 6th, 67 striking truckdrivers and their supporters were shot by Minneapolis police, acting on orders from the Citizens Alliance, an anti-labor employers' group, which controlled city government. Seventy-five years later, WE REMEMBER THEIR SACRIFICE!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Not everyone agrees with Occupy LA as one reader mentioned;"Hey Ed, why don't you show what a beautiful job Occupy LA did to the lawn?.
I dare you to post this. I guess they can't do much to skid row."

In the photo above three of the members of Occupy LA assist Sammy Maloof and I feed the homeless on Skid Row Los Angeles.

In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese stake in the slave trade was threatened by England and France. This caused the Portuguese to transfer their slave-trading activities southward to the Congo and South West Africa. Their most stubborn opposition, as they entered the final phase of the conquest of Angola, came from a queen who was a great head of state..., and a military leader with few peers in her time.

The important facts about her life are outlined by Professor

Glasgow of Bowie, Maryland:

“Her extraordinary story begins about 1582, the year of her birth. She is referred to as Nzingha, or Jinga, but is better known as Ann Nzingha. She was the sister of the then-reigning King of Ndongo, Ngoli Bbondi, whose country was later called Angola. Nzingha was from an ethnic group called the Jagas. The Jagas were an extremely militant group who formed a human shield against the Portuguese slave traders. Nzingha never accepted the Portuguese conquest of Angola, and was always on the military offensive. As part of her strategy against the invaders, she formed an alliance with the Dutch, who she intended to use to defeat the Portuguese slave traders.”

In 1623, at the age of forty-one, Nzingha became Queen of Ndongo. She forbade her subjects to call her Queen, She preferred to be called King, and when leading an army in battle, dressed in men’s clothing.

In 1659, at the age of seventy-five, she signed a treaty with the Portuguese, bringing her no feeling of triumph. Nzingha had resisted the Portuguese most of her adult life. African bravery, however, was no match for gun powder. This great African woman died in 1663, which was followed by the massive expansion of the Portuguese slave trade.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Family members will join over 100 Motorcyclist to Mourn the Murder of Darrin Kirk and Call for Police to Step Up their Investigation

LOS ANGELES - Family and friends of Darrin Kirk, a man shot in the head as he sat on his mother’s front porch in the 8800 block of South Halldale Blvd. on June 19, will participate in a candlelight vigil Wednesday July 18 at 7 p.m. to mourn his death and call on LAPD investigators to step up their search for the killer.

The vigil will take place in front of Kirk’s mother’s home located in Gramercy Park on 8813 South Halldale Blvd., where Kirk sustained the gunshot wounds that eventually led to his death.

Family members say they have released to police a video taken from two cameras at the home, which captures the suspect as he approached the home behind a parked pick-up truck and fired several rounds at Kirk as he sat on the porch.

Kirk, 45, was an avid motorcyclist and devoted father of a 2-year-old daughter, died at the California Hospital Medical Center on July 7 from the injuries he suffered June 19 as the result of the lone gunman who is still at large. According to coroner's records, Kirk died from a gunshot wound to the head.

About 100 motorcyclists will roll out to the vigil in support Kirk’s family in their attempt to seek information about his murder. According to a source, investigators will not return Kirk’s mother’s calls, even though they urged her to call them for updates.

A funeral service for Kirk will take place Friday, July 20 at 10 a.m., at the Living Room of the Faithful Central Bible Church, 400 W. Florence, Inglewood, CA 90301. A viewing will be held Thursday, July 19 at 6 p.m. at Harrison Ross Mortuary on Crenshaw Blvd.

July 17Two ammunition ships explode at Port Chicago, Calif., killing 322, including 202 African-Americans assigned by the Navy to handle explosives. It was the worst home-front disaster of World War II. The resulting refusal of 258 African-Americans to return to the dangerous work underpinned the trial and conviction of 50 of the men in what is called the Port Chicago Mutiny - 1944[All Labor Has Dignity: Martin Luther King, Jr. was every bit as committed to economic justice as he was to ending racial segregation. He fought throughout his life to connect the labor and civil rights movements, envisioning them as twin pillars for social reform. As we struggle with massive unemployment, a staggering racial wealth gap, and the near collapse of a financial system that puts profits before people, this collection of King's speeches on labor rights and economic justice underscore his relevance for today.]

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I was very excited to attend the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, Brady Westwater is one of the biggest promoters, and I did my best to find him with no luck. Had a quick dinner just feet from where the Occupy Los Angeles Group planned to organize their Chalk Walk Protest, they took over both sidewalks of Spring Street just South of Fifth Street. The image below was used as an advertisement for tonight's protest on Facebook.

As I sipped on a black coffee outside The Last Bookstore many police officers on motorcycles and in cars descended to 5th and Spring Streets, with lights blaring and sirens wailing. The bicycle police and private security, on bicycles also rushed to the area of protest. Several of the protesters were arrested before the police left the scene, only to return once again as the crowd grew in numbers and increased their din
of protest slogans. This wasn't what I had in mind before attending tonight's event, which I won't forget anytime soon.

Spring Street at 5th was closed a third time and I thought it would wise to leave the area for the safety of home. This was my first visit to the Art Walk, and I plan to return again, as it should be a bit quieter next time.

Downtown Art Walk, or the DAW movement, continues to be a complex abstraction that undergoes conflicting evaluation of process. To make your own personal interpretive experience that defines Art Walk, head toward the Historic Core, or detour briefly in other parts of downtown Los Angeles, on Thursday, July 12.

The Art Walk Lounge, housed in the historic MALDEF Building's expansive lobby, will feature works by Darren Quinn. (Art Walk sponsor SASSOON will hold "Hair As Art" show at 10:15 p.m. at the Robert Reynolds Gallery at 408 S. Spring St). Officially, Art Walk hours are 6 to 10 p.m. and held around 4th Street to 7th Street on Spring and Main Streets.Downtown LA Art Walk Lounge I 634 S. Spring Street

Former Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller with Bob Bagwell on the right.

I hear things are not going well for the Los Angeles Times, and judging from the size of my Times that hits my driveway daily, it's rather easy to see advertising is disappearing from the hard copy.

As the newspaper makes every attempt at staying afloat the ax has fallen on one of the longest careers at the newspaper, Bob Bagwell will be leaving the newspaper on August 10th, 2012. Mr. Bagwell will have marked sixty-five years at the newspaper on August 4th, unfortunately he will be leaving.

Can you imagine the changes Mr. Bagwell experienced in sixty-five years at the newspaper, which also brings to mind, that the majority reading this were not even alive when he began his decades of service for the newspaper.

July 11Striking coal miners in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho dynamite barracks housing Pinkerton management thugs - 1892[Basic Patterns in Union Contracts, 14th Edition is a valuable resource for union negotiators, offering hard data about the presence of specific language in contracts and, where applicable, the costs of the language. A comprehensive index directs you to the exact issue you want to address in negotiations. This helpful book can help you squelch employer claims of “Nobody can do what you want and stay in business!” In the UCS bookstore now.]

After seven years of labor by as many as 2,800 construction workers, the Triborough Bridge opens in New York. Actually a complex of three bridges, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. Construction began on Black Friday, 1929, and New Deal money turned it into one of the largest public works projects of the Great Depression - 1936

A nine-year strike, the longest in the history of the United Auto Workers, began at the Ohio Crankshaft Division of Park-Ohio Industries Inc. in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio. Despite scabs, arrests and firings, UAW Local 91 members hung tough and in 1992 won a fair contract - 1983

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

14,000 federal and state troops finally succeed in putting down the strike against the Pullman Palace Car Co., which had been peaceful until July 5, when federal troops intervened in Chicago, against the repeated protests of the Governor and Chicago’s mayor. Some 34 American Raily Union members were killed by troops over the course of the strike - 1894

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce holds a mass meeting of more than 2,000 merchants to organize what was to become a frontal assault on union strength and the closed shop. The failure of wages to keep up with inflation after the 1906 earthquake had spurred multiple strikes in the city - 1916

Sidney Hillman dies at age 59. He led the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and was a close advisor to Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1946

July 09The worst rail accident in U.S. history occurred when two trains pulled by 80-ton locomotives collided head-on at Dutchman’s curve in west Nashville, Tenn. 101 people died, another 171 were injured - 1918

New York City subway system managers in the Bronx attempt to make cleaning crews on the IRT line work faster by forcing the use of a 14-inch squeegee instead of the customary 10-inch tool. Six workers are fired for insubordination; a two-day walkout by the Transport Workers Union wins reversal of the directive and the workers’ reinstatement - 1935

Five thousand demonstrators rally at the state capitol in Columbia, S.C. in support of the "Charleston Five," labor activists charged with felony rioting during a police attack on a 2000 longshoremen's picket of a non-union crew unloading a ship - 2001[On The Global Waterfront: The Fight to Free the Charleston Fivetells the story of longshoremen in South Carolina who confronted attempts to wipe out their union, the state’s most powerful black organization, and rallied the nation and labor around the world in their successful fight. It is a compelling narrative of a local struggle, a transformed union leader, and a newly-energized international worker movement. In the UCS bookstore now.]

Google+ Badge

Contact Edward

ed.padgett@gmail.com

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7

Purchase and download here

ONE LOVE GEAR

Reggae Clothing

About this blog and The Pressmens Club

The blog was started to talk about issues impacting the pressroom both positively and negatively. The views expressed here are not of the LA Times, but of each individual's opinion. The Pressmen's Club is composed of men and women who have printed the paper for twenty years or more. Semi-annual dinners are held in March and October. See Ed Padgett for more information.